lemon Archives - Sugar et al

Lemon Friands

30|07|2021

I have quite a few friand recipes on this blog and they are all my favourites. That is because in Australia we can never grow tired of these delicious nutty treats. If I ever need to produce a baked treat at a short notice, I always go for a friand. If you the word ‘friand’ is new to you, you might have heard of the french financiers. They are the same!

This time around, I decided to give them a ‘high tea’ look. Imagine them being served on tiers at a special occasion. So naturally I had to glam them up. All I did was coat them in white chocolate and they looked ‘high tea ready’! I used a flower cookie mold so my friands were small and thin. You could also use a regular friand mold/pan but you may need to double the recipe in that case for 12 regular sized friands.

Lemon Friands
Yields 12 small friands

70 g unsalted butter, melted
3 egg whites, lightly whisked
100 g icing sugar
30 g self raising flour
60 g almond meal
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
200 g white chocolate
yellow gel food colouring

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a 12 hole flower cookie mold or 6 hole friand pan.
Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove from oven. Cool on a wire rack.
Melt white chocolate using a microwave or double boiler. Add the food colour as per desired shade. Mix till well blended.
Pipe white chocolate onto the flower cookie mold. Shake off excess. Press friands into the white chocolate. Place mold in the refrigerator to set. Remove friands carefully from mold. Enjoy!

Lemon Rhubarb and Almond Muffins

16|10|2018

When I think of Spring I can’t go past Rhubarb. Those bright, juicy stalks bursting with so much flavor add a pop of freshness to any baked item. By themselves too, they are the perfect ingredient for a cordial or a chutney. The best thing though is the they’re equally great with both sweet and savory dishes. A few days ago I made a rhubarb chutney that was the talk of my neighborhood. Paired with brie cheese and some fresh greens in a sandwich, they make a killer combo. Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Adding them in sweet recipes, is of course as simple as chopping them and throwing them into your cakes, muffins, slices or tarts. They cook down upon heating in the oven and create the most gorgeous pink hued topping. This recipe is super simple and I’ve made the lemon muffins by themselves many times. Spring is in the air and since I never ever get tired of pink, I included rhubarb and some sliced almonds to make them exciting. Sweet, tart, crunchy, mushy…these muffins are everything and a delight to the taste-buds.

Lemon Rhubarb and Almond Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

2 and 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 and 1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
90 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup chopped rhubarb (chopped into 1 cm cubes)
1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Line a 12- hole muffin tray with muffin/cupcake liners.

Place the flour, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and lemon juice. Pour the wet mixture into the well. Stir until just combined (do not over-mix). Fold in chopped rhubarb leaving aside a little for the tops (about 1/4 cup).

Spoon batter into muffin liners till 3/4th full. Sprinkle leftover rhubarb pieces and sliced almonds on to the tops. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Rosewater And Poppy Seed Cake

2|05|2016

You guys! I never thought you would love my experiments so much. When I make something I picture how much me, my family and friends would love to eat it. There are no other benchmarks for me. I barely look at trends, I don’t care a hoot for what my traffic stats should look like or what makes a post do well. I read about these things everywhere but honestly, I don’t understand much. It’s just me and my craft. And on the other side it is you, my dear readers. I like to do things that make you happy or things that will enable you to make someone else happy. So many of you have asked for the recipe of this rosewater and poppy seed cake. It came as a surprise to me. So I’ll keep it short and sweet and jump straight to the cake.

The cake has a great texture just as you would expect from a poppy seed cake. The rosewater is what you taste. I’ve used a little syrup to moisten the cake and make the cake more fragrant.In between the layers and outside is a lemon infused buttercream. Lastly, on the top is a white chocolate ganache in that shocking pink colour. So much happening in the cake but it tastes beautiful.

It’s meant to be a Mother’s day cake so please go ahead and decorate it with the prettiest roses you can find. Try and use flowers that have not been sprayed with insecticides or fungicides. If you can’t find any, make sure to read this post on decorating with flowers.

Rosewater And Poppy Seed Cake
Makes a 3-layered 6 inch round cake

4 tbsp poppy seed
200 g unsalted butter, melted, plus a little extra for greasing
225 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, at room temperature
225 g castor sugar
1 tbsp rosewater

For the rosewater syrup
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp castor sugar
1 tbsp rosewater

For the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream
4 egg whites
1 cup castor sugar
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
1 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-2 drops, pink food coloring (optional)

For the white chocolate ganache
100 g white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tbsp heavy cream
3-4 drops pink food colour

To make the cake layers: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C ( 160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Roast the poppy seed on a pan over low heat for 2 mins. Grease and line the base of 3 round (6 inch) pans with baking paper.

Mix together the flour and baking powder, then set aside. Put the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using electric beaters, whisk until thick, pale and foamy. Pour in the cooled butter and rosewater and briefly whisk again. Sift in the flour mix, add poppy seeds then, using a large metal spoon, carefully fold into the cake mixture until even. Pour the mixture into the tins and bake for 15 mins or until golden and springy to the touch. Cool in the tins for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack.

To make the rose syrup : Add sugar to a small saucepan. Pour in water and stir.
With the heat on medium, bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. The sugar will dissolve while the water boils.
Turn off the heat and let cool. When sugar syrup has cooled, add the rosewater.

To make the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Place the egg whites and sugar in a large bowl that is placed over a saucepan of simmering water (over low heat), and whisk continuously, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the bottom of the bowl is warm to touch

Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high speed until meringue holds stiff peaks and looks glossy. The bowl should have completely cooled by now.
Add the butter, 2 tablespoon at a time, until thick and fluffy. If it begins to look curdled, continue to whip until it comes back together, before adding in remaining butter.
When the buttercream is smooth and has come together, add the lemon zest and juice and whip gently again to blend.

To make the pink white chocolate ganache: Heat the white chocolate and heavy cream over low heat in a small saucepan. When cream just reaches boiling point, remove from heat and leave aside. Stir with a spoon to make a smooth mix. Add the food colour and stir to blend.

To assemble: Once the cake layers are slightly cool, brush each layer generously with rosewater syrup.
On a cake plate or stand, spread a little buttercream in the centre and place one layer of the cake (so that the cake does not move about while frosting). Spread about 1/2 a cup of lemon swiss meringue buttercream. Place the second layer. Repeat. Place the last layer upside down (so you get a flat top). Spread buttercream on the top and sides. If you want to make it look like a naked cake, a thin layer of frosting is good enough.
Stick the cake into the refrigerator for 15-20 mins.
Make the white chocolate ganache 5 minutes before you take the cake out from the fridge.Once the ganche is cool, but still flowing freely when you lift it with a spoon, spoon it onto the cake slowly. Be gentle on the edges to create the drippy effect.
Decorate with crushed meringues, silver cashous and flowers.

Lemon Meringue Tart

9|02|2016

Happy National Pancake Day! I know, there’s no pancake in this post. But you know what! I am so bad in remembering days other than a few birthdays and some important dates that I am making it a a point to be a bit more aware and alert this year. Actually, I did forget again but thanks to Instagram and social media I’ve been seeing mouthwatering pancakes all morning. I craved pancakes and thought I should make some. But there was this lemon meringue tart in the fridge along with chocolate cake, a no-churn ice cream in the freezer and a panna cotta duo in the making. There’s too much going on so pancakes are on hold at the moment. Let’s eat lemon meringue tart!

I was going through my recipe archives when I realized I haven’t shared the Lemon Meringue Tart recipe that I make so often, especially for picnics and get-togethers. It makes a medium sized tart, so easy to move around with, simple to make and I’ve been making it since years. When I was trying my hand at tarts for the first time, I struggled to get the rolled pastry on to the tart pan. It would tear or just would not be enough to fit into the pan or sometimes the dough would be too hard to roll as I left it too long in the fridge. Out of frustration one day, I just lined the tart pan with the dough, pushing it onto the sides and base with my fingers instead of rolling it. And it worked! The pastry was crispy, flaky and perfect just as it would be if you followed the normal method of making the tart base. Today, I can make a decent tart but this one remains close to my heart.

I made a feeble attempt to pipe meringue hearts (it’s that week after all) on the filling that didn’t look great. During Christmas last year I had bought some wafer flowers to use on cupcakes. They were perfect for the tart. My fresh edible flower plants were gone much to my despair when I returned after the holiday. I love flowers with my desserts so until I get new plants, I guess I’ll have to make do with others options.

Lemon Meringue Tart
Serves 6-8

For the pastry
1 cup 150 g plain flour
1/4 cup, icing sugar mixture
100 g chilled butter, roughly chopped
1 egg yolk

For the filling
3 eggs
150 ml single cream/poring cream
1/4 cup castor sugar
2 tsps grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the meringue
2 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 cup castor sugar

To make the pastry, process the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and process until mixture just comes together. Gently knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 3 mm-thick disc. Line a 19 cm fluted tart pan with a removable base with the pastry. Trim edges. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest

Meanwhile, to make the lemon filling, whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, lemon rind and juice together in a large bowl. Strain through a fine sieve.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C fan-forced). Place the tart pan on an baking tray. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or dried rice or beans. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights and bake for a further 10 minutes or until pastry is light golden. Remove from oven. Reduce oven to 150 degrees C.

Pour the lemon mixture into the pastry case. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until custard is almost set. Remove from oven. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Make the meringue: Use an electric beater to whisk egg whites and salt in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking constantly until thick and glossy. Spoon or pipe meringue on top of tart. Using a blowtorch, brown the meringue evenly. If using edible/sugar/wafer flowers decorate just before serving